Becoming Grassfed Day 30: Moringa, Salads, and More Salads

11/3/16

San Ignacio, Belize

I prefer to intermitted fast but with breakfast available every morning, I tend to break that habit. After a morning phone call with Angus I had an omelet with veggies, beans, fry jacks, a piece of sausage, and fruit. This was the beginning of a day that I will probably regret in the morning. The Food Addiction is back..

On the bright side of the food situation, I incorporated a nice morning detox into my meal that was very healthy. I sliced a lemon from Mary’s farm and juiced it for Lemon water, had a spoon of turmeric, dried ginger, chia seed, and washed them all down with a glass of water. Daily Detoxification is major, nothing heavy that will shock your body, but enough to keep the digestive track flowing and removing some extra toxins throughout the day.

After breakfast I went down the road to Dennis’s farm to help him plant some sweet potatoes, although we weren’t able to plant today because the vines weren’t delivered…We got the ground ready for the planting that will happen tomorrow. I had met Dennis a few other times at the market, but this was my first time really talking to him. As we tore into the clay-like dirt, dodging puddles and finding very interesting rocks, we talked and got to know each other a lot better than in the few minutes in the market.

Just a few minutes into our adventure, the rain poured down…making the already soaked field even harder to maneuver through. Finally the rain stopped, at one point I wondered what my Grandpa would think of he saw me farming (My mom’s side of the family was full of farmers), just a few minutes later the sky opened up to blue and a slight drizzle poured out through the jungle on to the rows that we had dug up. I took that as my sign that I was doing the right thing. We went through the field prepping the land for planting, about 4 hours in the field and it was time to head back to the Pro-Organic Meeting.

At noon people began to float into the lodge for the pre-meeting lunch. I met a few new people here, most memorable was the speaker for the meeting, Santiago Juan. Santiago has been growing in Belize for all of his life on the longest continually running organic farm in Belize, opened by his father they have not quit providing organic food for more than 70 years. For lunch I had steamed callaloo, steamed broccoli and cauliflower, and a plate full of assorted fresh produce. I also had a glass of diatomaceous earth, the grey powder helps to also detox and maintain regular digestive system..made up of fossilized diatoms, it sweeps through the intestines dragging out the remaining junk. The meal faded into conversation, just after 1 o’clock we all gathered in the Maya Mountain Conference Center.

Santiago Juan gave an incredible presentation on food safety and Moringa. Moringa is one of the most powerful plants in Central America but I have never seen it in the US. I have heard that you can get seeds sent in, something that I would highly recommend if it can grow in your climate zone. The magical tree can be eaten raw, made into tea, added to smoothies, or made into juice. Some people think it is a bit bitter but Mary and I eat it off the tree at her orchard. Santiago received a grant to buy a pelletizer and make the leaves into pellets to compact the nutrients into smaller sizes.

After the meeting I was supposed to go to his farm and see his set up but I accidentally took too long in the kitchen making my second lunch, beans, arugula, and onion. I have fallen back into the pattern of eating way too much, all of the food is clean but the portion control is non-existent. I had about a half pound of beans, arugula, and onions. I was plenty full to stop eating for the day, I already felt like my capacity was reached.

I did a little work on the computer as Daimon texted me and asked if I wanted to go for a run, I gladly accepted and got ready by 4:30. We went down to an abandoned horse track where some dads were out letting their sons ride horses, this is where he usually starts his run but after getting engulfed in good conversation we ended up talking until the sun began to set, missing out on the run but the experience was well worth it. These are the real Belize experiences that I will keep in my memory bank.

When I got back to the lodge I was ready to get my blog done, get dinner, and go to bed. I made a salad with Kale, Spinach, Cilantro, Cucumber (Pickled and Raw), Tomato, Hummus, Black Beans, Pico De Gallo, and of course Himalayan Sea Salt and Black Pepper. I prepped a salad for tomorrow and then Rey made me a chicken breast so I ended up eating that as well, this salad had spinach, kale, lots of hummus, jerk chicken, and pico. I like to experiment with salads and see how interesting I can make them, one of the main concerns that people have with a plant-based diet is that there is not much variety of food. I hungout in the kitchen for a little bit and watched Rey work so I could learn a little bit while I made some vines of my salads.

After getting a full belly I ended up working on this but fell asleep before I could finish it, this is now the next morning..so sorry for the tardiness but the message remains the same.